Swimming with the Sharks

The other night I caught a few minutes of a reality show on ABC called “Shark Tank.” In this installment, a young gal sold 55% of her company to an investor for $50,000.00. I tuned in too late to see what her product was, but she seemed happy with the outcome, stating that the value of having the investor as a mentor would be worth more than the money. Right after her were two young men hawking their idea for a business – cute college girls packing boxes – for $250k for a 25% share of the company. To prove they were a risk worth taking, they promoted their “hunks hauling junk” business which they successfully grew from nothing and had even landed them on Inc. Magazine’s top 30 under 30 entrepreneurs list. Once the sharks heard about the hauling business, they tried to get a piece of that action in addition to the packing business on the table. But the guys didn’t want to give up a stake in the company they built from the ground up and so they passed on the money.

Even though I only saw less than 10 minutes of this show, I started to wonder…Is it really getting so bad out there that entrepreneurs are turning to a reality show for funding? But then I thought, why not? People are going on reality shows to date in the dark, try to dance their (uh-hmm) off, and a whole lot more for a whole lot less. At least here people are saying, “I have an idea I think is worth your investment.” Maybe you can relate. Maybe you too need to hear someone say, “I believe in your idea and I am willing to put my money on it and you.”

Tomorrow, Earn.com’s is hosting a free webinar: Finding Financing for your Business with David Gass. If you are looking for financing, you may want to spend an hour and see what other ways are out there to get financing besides swimming with the sharks.